Who Are We?

The Hamden Arts Commission is a cultural resource and information center, and a focal point in the community for activities in the arts. We present annual, seasonal programs and also enthusiastically promote the individuals and organizations that work to enhance the arts in our town.

The Arts Commission has been collaborating with the Town since 1981. It is composed of 15 volunteer commissioners, each a Mayoral appointment, who are assisted by two town employees.

Our monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month and are always open to the public. Please join us! Call or email to find out where we will be meeting: 203-287-2546 or [email protected]

Our Commissioners

Shon Howard - Chairperson

Diane Brown - Vice Chair

Charlotte Lefland - Treasurer

Charlotte joined the Commission in October 2021 and quickly took on the role of Treasurer in January 2022. She has been involved with the arts for over a decade and currently works at the Yale Center for British Art. A passionate supporter of the arts and increased to cultural experiences, Charlotte has actively sought out opportunities to share her passion with others. Since moving to New Haven (2015) and now Hamden (2019), Charlotte has become very interested in public art and hopes that her role as a commissioner will allow her to have a more active role in supporting local art and artists.

Siobhan Carter-David

Siobhan Carter-David is Associate Professor in the Department of History, affiliate faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies, and co-director of Africana Studies at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. She teaches in the areas of cultural studies, women’s studies, and African American/African Diaspora and contemporary United States histories. As a public historian, she has worked with museum curators, special collection curators, photographers and independent artists on projects involving various facets of African American and broad-based United States cultural history. She is author of several chapters and articles in edited volumes, exhibition catalogs, and academic journals, and is completing her book manuscript, Issuing the Black Wardrobe: Magazines and Fashion Post-Soul. Carter-David has also studied as a printmaker. She joined the Commission in 2019.

Margaret Craft

Susan Cutillo

Susan has lived in Hamden since the early 1990s. She has a strong commitment to community and supporting activities that bring people together to promote positive relationships and experiences. She is the administrative and clinical director of psychiatric services at Griffin Health Services. Being a social worker through training has helped Susan appreciate how the arts can have a healing quality for individuals and groups. She looks forward to the opportunity to serve on the commission to promote the arts and develop new relationships in the Hamden community.

Toure Diggs

Donna Elkin

A Hamden Arts commissioner since 2003, Donna is a mainstay of the Summer Concert and Sunday Series Committees and also takes part in all the other activities that the Arts Commission has to offer. Her interest in the arts stems from twelve years of study, and later graduate classes, with the Theresa Signores Dance Studio in New Haven. Especially noteworthy in her theatrical experience is that Donna and her fellow dancers from the studio once performed on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City.

Donna has been a paraprofessional in the Hamden Public School system since 1993 and has been a paraprofessional at Hamden High since 1998. At Hamden High, she has been involved with the After-Prom Committee since 1993, including as the Staff Chair for many years. She has resided in Hamden since 1976, and has three children and two grandchildren.

Marita Gargiulo

Charles Kortsep

Alex Mickens

George Moore

Lisa Morrison

Sandy Schiff

A long-time commissioner appointed by Mayor John Carusone, Sandy has taught in the public school systems of East Haven and in Hamden at both the middle school and Hamden High. While at the high school, she started the SADD chapter and became a national speaker on the topic of “Single Parents and the Schools.” She has published numerous articles on the subject.

Sandy is the mother of two adult daughters: Debbie who has made her a proud grandmother and Karen who is an accomplished artist whose work has won national and international recognition. For the past thirty years, Sandy has been a travel agent.